1. My Story- How our Great Place to Work journey
has changed me and what have I learnt.
August 3rd, 2012 , Mumbai

2. My Professional Journey : Lessons Learnt & the Big Goal
• International Banker: 1975 to 2004 - Period of Learning
• Social Entrepreneur – ‘My Calling’: 2005 till date
Goal : Build the Best Financial Services Organization for the
Financially Excluded.
Task as CEO : Build the Organizational Culture.
Key Pillar for Organization recognized: ‘Best Place to Work’

3. The Start of the Journey: Citibank, 1975-1993
Proud to be a ‘Citibanker’ – Citibank truly a Great Place to Work
Good: Work colleagues of highest caliber
Development & Training
Entrepreneurial – Not afraid to fail
Evolved into a truly multinational organization
Permanent change at the cutting edge
Bad: Over competitive & ambitious
Poor succession planning at the top

4. Middle of the Road: Standard Chartered, HDFC Bank &
Bank Muscat : 1993-2004
A mixed bag of experiences & lessons:
• Hierarchical – Vestiges of colonial culture
•Corrosively political
•Lacked vision & stomach
•Highly risk averse : Safe to follow the market leader & be Second
Best / Penalized failure

5. Ujjivan Financial Services
Our
Facts: 1.09 million+ customers spread in 20 states employees
imbibe the
296 branches served through 3374 employees; whole mission
of the
People Intensive business organization
Work conditions: Customer interactions are ‘person –to–person’
Work area - slums, one of the most difficult physical places
Engagement is about : Pride in what we do : ‘building a better life’
Daily see the positive impact on customers
Mission : Provide financial services to the economically active poor, to help
alleviate poverty
When I look at what I feel good about the
we accomplish, I feel ways we contribute to
a sense of pride: the society:
Ujjivan 97%; Ujjivan 95%;
India’s Best : 88% India’s Best : 88%

6. Over 63% of
Imbibing the Mission field staff hire
is through
customer &
Right Hire: employee
referral
program
•Field Staff recruitment Customer & Employee Referral
•Pre-recruitment exposure at branch mandatory for all managerial positions;
Right Orientation:
•Staff go through an Induction Program involves 4 days in the field;
Living the mission: SDP coverage
192 branches
•Employees run their Social Development Programs (SDPs) covered
71000
•Disaster Relief sponsored & undertaken by Staff & Ujjivan equally children &
over 50,000
families

7. Ujjivan employees living the Mission
Flood Fury in Bhagalpur,
Bihar:
1200 Clients affected;
Dec 2011 Cyclone Tamil
Nadu:
3100 customers affected;

8. Building the Culture : Open, Equitable & Celebrate
Employee & Customer Connect Program:
•Field Staff Representatives Meetings : listen & resolve HR and business issues;
•Branch /Customer visit for all employees & Experience/Knowledge sharing
Intranet & Blog
ESOP across
Timely, Fair & Equitable Compensation across levels: ‘Driver to CEO’
66%
•Equitable & timely compensation even through crisis; of employees
covered
•ESOP at all levels
Recognize & Celebrate Success & Outstanding Work

9. Building the Culture : Constant Change & Transparent
Over 60,000 training man days; 22 days per
employee
Helping People with Change :
•Constantly evolving & changing;
•Emphasis on training
•7‘O clock rule : work life balance
GPTW : Management shows sincere interest in me as a person, not just as an employee :
Ujjivan 88%; India’s Best 78%
•Transparent organization:
•Access to leadership i.e. Staff escalations on Performance Evaluation acted on;
•Leadership Dipstick Survey –bottom-up feedback process;
•Policies on all issues accessible to all employees.

10. Impact of GPTW
Employee Feedback: GPTW Survey Results employee feedback
(in the absence of internal survey);
Benchmarking: Helps us benchmark ourselves against Best
People Practices across the Industry
Winning Helps: Consistently being in the top rung for 4 years &
being among Top 25 in the country - big morale booster and adds
to brand value of Ujjivan.

11. MFI Transparency Award 2010
Microfinance Organisation of the Year 2011